Christian Peacemaker Teams Activities 1984-2000

1984-1986

July, 1984: Ronald J. Sider, professor at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Philadelphia) and member of the Brethren in Christ Church, gives keynote speech, "God's People Reconciling," at Mennonite World Conference in Strasbourg, France.

1985-1986: Study guides circulate among Mennonites throughout the U.S. and Canada. Responses gathered from more than 400 congregations and 700 individuals. [Resources: "Christian Peacemaker Teams: A Study Document." Akron, PA: MCC, February 1986 (out of print); "Christian Peacemaker Teams: Discussion Guide. "Waterloo, ON: Conrad Grebel College, April 1986/Rev. Ed. December, 1989]

December, 1986: Conference called in Techny, IL, by the Council of Moderators and Secretaries (CMS) of the General Conference Mennonite Church, Brethren in Christ Church, Mennonite Church, and Mennonite Brethren Church. Church of the Brethren staff members participate as observers. Conference issues the "Techny Call" to congregations, church wide agencies, and conferences. CMS agrees to sponsor the new "Christian Peacemaker Teams" steering committee.

June, 1986: CPT Steering Committee holds formative meeting in Chicago, IL. Church of the Brethren joins as sponsor; Mennonite Brethren decline to sponsor following this meeting.

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1987-1989

1987: CPT Steering Committee meets twice. Gene Stoltzfus hired as half-time coordinator in August. Philip Stoltzfus travels throughout the U.S., Canada and Central America on a CPT stipend collecting stories of Brethren and Mennonites involved in nonviolent prophetic witness.

January, 1988: First CPT Conference in Altona, MB. Focused on input from Cree and Salteaux native leaders concerning threatened violence on Canadian reserves.

July, 1988: Conference of Mennonites in Canada (GCMC) adopts resolution endorsing CPT and calling for congregational basis of nonviolent initiatives.

September-October, 1988: CPT Steering Committee chairperson Ruth Stoltzfus Jost active in organizing a conference of Mennonites and Brethren with Haiti experience to serve as election observers. Project fails to materialize when council of churches in Haiti declines to issue invitation due to death threats.

May, 1989: First Annual CPT Training/Action Conference, Chicago, IL, attended by 120 persons. Biblical studies, speakers, workshops, nonviolent direct action training. Maarten van der Werf attends as delegate from CPT-Europe; proposes joint Europe-North America CPT attention to NATO air forces training in Labrador that is causing destruction of Innu native peoples' lands. Conference attendees join Vietnam Veterans Against the War in peace vigil in downtown Chicago on Memorial Day. ["CPT Peacemaker Packet" provides materials on biblical basis of prophetic witness, non-violence training, etc.]

June-July, 1989: CPT seconds David Weaver, teacher at Central Christian High School in Kidron, OH, to the Palestine Human Rights Campaign. David's task, while working in the West Bank, involves documenting the 632 deaths which have occurred as a result of the Palestinian Intifada uprising.

July, 1989: Gene Stoltzfus, CPT Coordinator, represents CPT at Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, St. Louis, MO.

August, 1989: CPT leaders Gene Stoltzfus, Hedy Sawadsky, and Robert Hull present several nonviolent direct action training workshops at the joint Mennonite Church and General Conference Mennonite Church sessions at Normal, IL. Hull becomes CPT Steering Committee chairperson.

September, 1989: CPT Steering Committee meeting, Philadelphia, PA, to dialogue with resource persons Ron Sider and Charles Walker, Quaker leader in Peace Brigades International.

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1990

February 22-26, 1990: CPT sponsors an Innu Solidarity Conference in Ottawa, Canada, to hear from and support Innu leaders opposing the NATO low-level flying over their Labrador homelands. 85 conference attenders hold peace vigils at Department of Indian and Northern Development and Department of Defense headquarters. Regional CPT organization forms in Ontario to plan the conference and continue prophetic witness to the federal government afterwards; several CPT Ontario leaders are arrested in subsequent months; witness is continuing. European CPT group forms to work on low level flight training.

February 25, 1990: CPT seconds Vern Preheim, General Secretary of the General Conference Mennonite Church, to participate in a delegation to serve as election observers in Nicaragua.

May 4-6, 1990: CPT joins in sponsorship of Faith and Resistance Weekend Retreat in Wichita, KS, which culminates in "trespassing" detainments for 65 persons, including 6 CPT leaders, at McConnell Air Force Base, receiving the first B-1B strategic nuclear bombers that weekend.

July 24-29, 1990: CPT leads nonviolence training seminars at Mennonite World Conference at Winnipeg, MB, and organizes peace vigil with 350 participants to Minuteman II missile silo in North Dakota.

July 26-September 27, 1990: CPT chairperson Robert Hull makes three trips to Montreal, Quebec, to assist in Mohawk Crisis. CPT works on inter-positionary team, then human rights observers, and finally church observer patrols. Involves Montreal Mennonite Fellowship and Montreal Friends Meeting. Close working relationship with John Paul Lederach, mediator representing Mennonite Conciliation Service. [Reports: Conrad Grebel Review, Spring 1991; R. Hull, "Do Not Lock and Load!: Lessons from the Mohawk Crisis for Future CPT Initiatives." February, 1991]

October 12-14, 1990: Leaders from the Brethren, Mennonites, and Friends meet in Chicago to revitalize New Call to Peacemaking, a common peacemaking venture from 1976-1988. Leaders request Council of Moderators and Secretaries (CMS) to extend invitation through Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) for Friends groupings to join CPT.

October 21, 1990: CPT sponsors "Oil Free Sunday" in which Mennonite and Brethren church-goers walk to worship as a consciousness-raising effort toward energy conservation and simpler lifestyles. Approximately 40% of congregations participate. [CPT "Oil Free Sunday" Packet for congregations provides information on Persian Gulf conflict.]

November 9-11, 1990: Second Annual CPT Training/Action Conference held in Denver, CO. 135 participants in nonviolence training, workshops on Persian Gulf conflict, etc. Peace vigil at entrance to Lowry Air Force Base provides $4000 worth of groceries for homeless shelters in Denver (gathered from 18 states and Germany); five CPT leaders detained for trespassing. $700 contributed by conference participants for CPT delegation to Iraq; Gene Stoltzfus and Hedy Sawadsky commissioned and anointed with olive oil as delegation leaders.

November 21-December 1, 1990: CPT Delegation to Iraq, including thirteen Mennonites, Brethren and Friends with total of over 30 years experience in Middle East, visits Amman, Jordan; Baghdad, Iraq; and Babylon, Iraq. Delegation member Landrum Bolling meets with PLO leader Yassir Arafat in Amman, later accompanies home five hostages released from Iraq. CPT initiative is to seek release of all hostages by Iraq and end of food and medicine blockade by U.S.-led coalition in order to open up less emotionally-charged space for genuine dialogue leading to negotiations. More than 1000 public appearances in church and media follow team's visit. [Report: "CPT Delegation to Iraq, November 1991"]

December 1, 1990: Council of Moderators and Secretaries confirms invitation through Friends World Committee for Consultation to invite Friends groupings to join CPT.

December 20, 1990: CPT Steering Committee circulates call to "Emergency Sabbath" on January 21, 1991. Congregations called to plan worship; members to take day away from work to engage in peacemaking activities on first Monday following beginning of hostilities in Persian Gulf. Approximately 20% of congregations and church institutions estimated to have observed in some way. [CPT "Call to An Emergency Sabbath" materials available.]

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1991

February 28, 1991: CPT provides workshops and nonviolence training on March 1 for 85 students at annual Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference, Hesston College, Kansas.

March 17-April 17, 1991: CPT sponsors "Capitol Sabbath," providing facilitator Michael Sprong to assist congregational groups in 3-4 day visits to Washington, DC, to learn about Middle East conflicts and urge Congress and State Department progress toward International Peace Conference to resolve Arab-Israeli conflict. Palestinian, Israeli, and Middle East-experienced Mennonite, Brethren, and Friends resource persons utilized. Worship reflects Lent/Easter, Passover, and Ramadan themes.

April, 1991: Publication of CPT-sponsored book by Duane Ruth-Heffelbower, 'The Anabaptists Are Back: Making Peace in a Dangerous World (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press.) Contains analysis by Ruth-Heffelbower, pastor of Community Mennonite Fellowship, Fresno, CA, and stories of nonviolent prophetic witness by Brethren and Mennonites collected by Philip Stoltzfus in 1987.

June 1-14, 1991: CPT Coordinator Gene Stoltzfus, Chicago, and Steering Committee member Hedy Sawadsky, Ontario, lead thirteen-member CPT Team to Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. Team visits organizations involved in nonviolent direct action and participates in nonviolent peace walk. More than 200 talks and interviews are given by team members upon return to North America; reports of delegation activities appear in major Mennonite and Church of the Brethren periodicals.

July, 1991: Full reports from CPT delegation to Israel appear in "Signs of the Times," the CPT newsletter.

July 12, 1991: CPT receives an invitation (via the Mennonite World Conference) from Guatemalan Mennonite church leaders to stand with them against the violence in Central America. The Guatemalan Mennonite Church had publicly protested U.S. leadership of the Persian Gulf War (in front of the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City on January 29.)

July 19, 1991: A CPT delegation to Israel issues a Special Alert to its 6000 subscribers on the plight of the "unrecognized Palestinian villages," many of them occupied for centuries but now being obliterated in the rush to build Israeli settlements.

July 29, 1991: CPT Coordinator Gene Stoltzfus issues a second Special Alert to the CPT mailing list and through Mennonite and Brethren communications channels, urging immediate communication to Washington and Ottawa to lift at least the food and medicine sanctions still imposed on Iraq (which threaten a public health catastrophe.)

September, 1991-February, 1992: Eight press releases and three special alerts sent to the denominational media and peace offices; further distribution made in a variety of ways.

December 4, 1991: CPT Steering Committee tele-conference to hear reports from Gene Stoltzfus and guide his work in gathering a CPT delegation to Haiti.

December 1991: Another issue of "Signs of the Times" distributed, featuring guest editors Cathy and Andre Gingerich Stoner. Focus on "Peacemaking and the Military," reflects various C.O. counseling ministries among military personnel in the U.S. and Europe during the Persian Gulf War.

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1992

February 19, 1992: Special mailing sent to 200+ people on the CPT Haiti Interest list, many with extensive conference mission and MCC development experience in Haiti during the past 20 years. Action steps call for communications to the U.S. Congress and the Bush Administration, or the Canadian Parliament and the Mulroney Administration, to seek just resolution of the conflict in Haiti and to accept fleeing Haitians as bona fide humanitarian refugees.

February, 1992: Gene Stoltzfus gathers delegations to Haiti and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The latter involves educational experiences sponsored by the Mideast Council of Churches and participation in a civil-disobedience walk sponsored by the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence (founded by Mubarak Awad before his deportation.)

March 6-8, 1992: Third annual CPT Training/Action Conference held at the Richmond (VA) Mennonite Fellowship with 125 participants. Shelley Douglass, a long-time nonviolent action peacemaker, and Mubarak Awad, now staff of Nonviolence International in Washington, DC, are the primary guest speakers. The CPT "Taxes for Life" effort raises more than $5000 in re-directed military taxes for inner-city minority schools in Petersburg, VA, and later, Los Angeles, CA.

May 29-June 11, 1992: Gene Stoltzfus and Hedy Sawadsky lead an eleven-member CPT delegation to the West Bank, where they join a nonviolent peace and justice walk through the Valley of Armageddon on Pentecost Sunday toward the Israeli military-controlled border. During a peaceful vigil, six members of the CPT delegation and 113 members of the peace walk organization are arrested by Israeli military authorities and jailed for 48 hours. All are released, and CPT members join in a final prayer in an upper room of the Holy Land Hotel.

July, 1992: CPT sponsors displays, seminars, and peacemaker gatherings at the Church of the Brethren and General Conference Mennonite Church sessions in Richmond, VA, and Sioux Falls, SD, respectively. Initial distribution of proposed CPT Ten-Year Development Plan.

August 10, 1992: CPT participates in meeting called by Council of Anabaptists in Los Angeles, along with other Mennonite organizations. CPT begins exploration of possibilities of conflict-reduction ministries in urban areas.

November, 1992: CPT sponsors visit of Elaine Stoltzfus and Gordon Hunsberger to Haiti with a Chicago Religious Task Force Delegation.

December 10-17, 1992: CPT sends 16-person team to Haiti to learn about the abuse of human rights and to initiate discussions at U.S. Embassy. Visit culminates in a widely publicized vigil.

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1993

January 8-16, 1993: CPT sends a ten-person team to Miami to work with churches and the Haitian Refugee Center in support of Haitian refugees at Krome Detention Center.

March 20-31, 1993: CPT and Witness for Peace join forces to organize a long-term delegation to Haiti.

March 17-28, 1993: CPT sends group of 18 students from North Central College (Methodist) to the Middle East.

May 5-15, 1993: Eight-person team to Haiti studies increasing human rights abuse, contacts long-term team in Jeremie, visits U.S. Embassy, and sounds urgent alarm for Haitian people.

July ,1993: CPT works with local groups to sponsor major walk with the homeless in Philadelphia to coincide with the Mennonite Church conference.

September 4-October 15, 1993: First Peacemaker Corps training in Chicago, IL. Four full-time Corps members and three Peace Reservists trained.

October 22-November 1, 1993: Eleven-person peacemaker team to Haiti prays at sites where persons were killed by military rulers and visits victims of military rule.

September, 1993: CPT recruits twelve persons to work in Haiti with Cry for Justice, a coalition of groups to help prevent human rights abuses. First Peacemaker Corps assignments to this Haiti project are Cole Arendt and Miriam Maik. The coalition of nine groups ended its work in December, 1993.

December 1, 1993-January 24, 1994: CPT places four to six-person long-term team in Jeremie, Haiti, as a nonviolent peacemaking presence to help prevent large-scale abuse by the military and to help leverage international concern for the condition of the Haitian people. Reporting from this group is used widely worldwide by groups and missions working for Haiti. News of the team's efforts also circulates widely among Haitians and helps provide hope during the darkest days of military rule.

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1994

December 30, 1993-Jan 2, 1994: First Christian Peacemaker Congress meets in Chicago at International Conference Center. Three hundred participants gather for food, fun, worship, study, networking, and a teach-in on war toys at a local Toys R Us Store.

January 31-February 14, 1994: CPT-sponsored French Canadian delegation to Haiti visits Jeremie and makes important contact with the Canadian Embassy.

March 31-April 9, 1994: Nine-person CPT delegation to Haiti includes important visit to the Jamael where firm discussions with the military authorities are held in conditions of major oppression. Selected team members visit Jeremie and other points in the province and conclude with Embassy visits and a public vigil in front of the National Palace which gains the attention of Haitian radio and TV.

May 11-23, 1994: Nine-person team to the Middle East led by Cliff Kindy and Janice Kulp Long studies settlements, visits Gaza, and provides important connections to the long-term work for peace. Team corresponds with larger peace process. Visit precedes the outbreak of violence and the general discouragement with the process later in the year.

July, 1994: CPT Team in Jeremie, Haiti, develops a week-long public fast for peace and dignity in the town square. Though called in for questioning by the military, the group is not expelled. News of the fast is announced in the churches of the region and Haitians are reminded of international prayers for their situation.

October 19-30, 1994: Twelve-person CPT team to Haiti--first group following the American invasion and the end of the rule of General Raoul Cedras and the Haitian military. Group visits the north and enters high-conflict situation. Local people turn over weapons to team and team helps rescue Haitian soldier who might have been killed by angry villagers. Group concludes mission with a strong witness at the National Palace which gains substantial publicity.

June-July, 1994: Preliminary and advance study of neighborhoods in Washington, DC, to set up a project for a violence-free neighborhood. Three neighborhoods identified.

September-December, 1994: First urban violence reduction project in Washington led by Cole Arendt and John Reuwer culminates in the closing of a crack house and general reduction of violence in an eight-block area. Project includes four persons and begins with a listening project, develops into community events at Halloween and a final candle-light march for peace and prayer shortly after the closing of the crack house.

December 7-18, 1994: Ten-person CPT team visits Haiti and takes substantial testimony from prisoners in Les Cayes who continue to be held by military authorities. Team highlights the absence of an assertive gun-collection program on the part of U.S. troops and concludes stay with a wonderful skit in front of the National Palace which is replayed several times on Haitian national TV.

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1995

December 28, 1994-January 22, 1995: Second Peacemaker Corps Training in Chicago, IL. Two full-time and twelve Reserve Corps persons trained. Major actions at local Toys R Us Store and ELF in Northern Wisconsin help people gain experience in nonviolent direct action and public witness.

January 25, 1995: Closure of CPT project in Jeremie, Haiti after one year and three months of monitoring human rights violations. Twenty CPT workers sustained an average presence of four persons during the project. [Jeremie Closure Report]

January 29-February 12, 1995: Ten-person peacemaker team to the Middle East led by Ruth Buxman and Cliff Kindy works with local groups to halt land confiscation.

January 29-March 27, 1995: Corps members Wendy Lehman and Kathleen Kern work with grassroots groups in the West Bank to seek nonviolent solutions to the conflict.

April 1, 1995: Phase two of Project in Urban Peacemaking begins in Washington D.C. The project centers on the 44 unit Warner Apartments, identified by local residents as a focus of violence and drug activity.

May 1, 1995 - December, 1995: Beginning of violence reduction project in the Artibonite valley in central Haiti. CPC reservist Duane Ediger, corps member Lena Siegers, and CPT Jeremie veteran Joel Klassen mediate land disputes, advocate justice in the courts, monitor elections, train youth in nonviolence, and provide the protection of presence against bandits.

May 26-29, 1995: CPT joins New Call to Peacemaking to present Peacemaker Congress 1995 in Chicago. Over two hundred people attend the three day series of workshops culminating in a Memorial Day public witness commemorating the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

June 1, 1995: Four person CPT team begins work in Hebron, West Bank, where relations between Palestinian residents and several hundred Israeli settlers are extremely polarized following the 1994 massacre of 29 Palestinians at prayer by settler Baruch Goldstein. The team documents and intervenes in the daily abuse and harassment of Palestinians by settlers and soldiers and teaches nonviolence skills.

June 3-13, 1995: Eight member delegation travels to Haiti to avert violence prior to parliamentary and municipal elections. The team reports Haitians' concerns about proper election monitoring, development projects that create conflict and distrust, and displeasure at the new police force receiving training in the U.S.

June 8-19, 1995: Five member exploratory delegation to Chiapas, Mexico assesses local peace initiatives and recommends a CPT presence there.

July 22, 1995: Three members of CPT's team in Hebron are arrested by the Israel Defense Force for breaking down a long-standing barricade at the front gate of the Hebron University. The incident is widely reported, including a full page article in the "Washington Report on Middle East Affairs."

August 30 - December 4, 1995: CPT director Gene Stoltzfus and Canadian social work professor Otto Driedger, accompanied by translator Steven Shirk of MCC Moscow, visit Chechnya to assess the potential for CPT work there. Their report strongly recommends a CPT presence if the necessary funding can be found.

September 21-28, 1995: A special team to Haiti with CPT steering committee members Anne Blackwood and Cheryl Cayford and CPT trainer J. Denny Weaver investigates changes in Haiti and CPT's work there since the restoration of democracy. A report is widely distributed among CPT supporters.

November 3-12, 1995: Six member delegation to Haiti visits members of the Haitian legislature and popular organizations in Port-au-Prince and the Artibonite region. The team's visit coincides with the killing of a member of parliament and an impassioned speech by president Aristide on the need for serious disarmament.

November 7 - December 2, 1995: Five-member delegation organized by Michigan Faith and Resistance joins CPT's team in Hebron. The delegation, led by Reserve Corps member Peter Dougherty, works in the aftermath of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by right wing Jewish extremists with ties to Hebron settlers.

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1996

December 27, 1995 - January 15, 1996: Third annual training for members of the Christian Peacemaker Corps. Two full-time Corps members and nine reservists trained over three weeks in Chicago.

January 7, 1996: Three members of CPT's Hebron team are detained by Israeli Defense Forces after helping crowds of Palestinians nonviolently dismantle gates and turnstiles in the downtown market. The gates had been installed by the Israeli occupation forces to control market activity during the Intifada. One CPTer is arrested and threatened with deportation only to be released unconditionally 48 hours later.

February 2, 1996: CPT joins members of Chicago's Asian American communities in a candle-light prayer vigil for reconciliation in response to the vicious killing of a Filipino teenager by a gang of 5 Cambodian youth. The inter-faith, inter-ethnic vigil draws over 100 people on one of the coldest nights of the year.

February 6, 1996: Kickoff of CPT.D (CPTDiscussion), an open forum for dialogue on nonviolence and CPT work available through e-mail.

February 28, 1996: Two members of CPT Hebron are arrested and held for 48 hours after CPTers sang and prayed on the roof of a Palestinian home threatened will demolition by Israeli authorities. Released after 48 hours, the two were threatened with deportation. A torrent of concerned faxes and e-mails helped convince the Israeli government not to pursue the matter.

March 5, 1996: Residents of Columbia Heights in Washington, D.C. celebrate the closure of a second crack house with help from the CPT Project in Urban Peacemaking.

March 10, 1996: CPTers ride bus #18 in Jerusalem Sunday morning, the target of two consecutive bombing attacks.

April 8, 1996: To protest the Israeli authorities' closure of Hebron University and to fulfill a promise to teach there, CPT begins regular "teach-in" classes on nonviolence at the university's front gate.

April 4-10, 1996: Two members of Christian Peacemaker Teams participate in a multinational peace delegation to Chechnya. The delegation meets with Russian officials, representatives of the Russian-backed government in Chechnya and separatist leaders.

April 25-27, 1996: First CPT Steering Committee meeting to include Friends United Meeting as an official supporting denomination. The committee approves the "takeover" of Synapses, an organization founded in 1981 for grassroots justice and peace advocacy. With the move, CPT assumes the legacy and resources of Synapses, including legal corporate status in the state of Illinois and a combination house/office property in Chicago.

May 28, 1996: Israeli military arrest four CPTers as they attempt to transplant trees illegally planted by settlers on Palestinian land. All CPTers are released by June 1 under restrictions not to return to Hebron. After wide consultation with Palestinian Christian supporters and representatives of CPT's North American constituency, the team openly returns to Hebron June 12 in defiance of the restrictions. A letter sent to the Hebron police explaining their actions is accompanied by a renewed statement of invitation by the Hebron municipality (Palestinian government.)

June - August, 1996: CPT Peace Reservist Jim Satterwhite assists peacemaking efforts in Chechnya throughout the summer. Satterwhite works to encourage local peace initiatives and bring international attention to continuing violence by Russian forces against small towns and villages.

June - October, 1996: CPT members assist with a violence-reduction project in Jajce, Bosnia organized by CPT Reservist Randy Shank and the German Mennonite Peace Committee. The project focuses on providing a secure environment for returning Muslim and Serb refugees in a highly polarized village near the Croatian border.

June 8-19, 1996: Eight member delegation to Haiti concludes its time with a public prayer vigil urging the U.S. government to turn over 160,000 pages of documents illegally taken from FRAPH, a Haitian paramilitary group. The documents, containing information on human rights abuses and illegal arms shipments during the rule of Haiti's military, are held because they contain names of U.S. citizens.

August 28 - December 2, 1996: CPT team travels in Northern Haiti and the southern penninsula talking with Haitian peasants and popular organizations about human rights under the democratic government. The team monitors courtrooms, observes the new national police force at work and speaks to Haitian government officials on behalf of peasants who feel left out of the democratic process.

October 19 - 30, 1996: Six member delegation to Haiti sees the effects of economic violence on peasants in the North. The team performs a public prayer asking for compensation for the victims of violence during the military rule rather than payment for Haiti's defunct military.

October 27, 1996: More than 70 congregations and meetings observe CPT Sunday on the three year anniversary of the Christian Peacemaker Corps and the tenth year of the "Techny Call" founding CPT. A packet contains worship materials, children's stories and sermon suggestions to celebrate ten years of peacemaking.

November 1-12, 1996: Five member delegation to the Middle East visits Galilee, Jerusalem and Gaza and spends a significant portion of their time with the CPT team in Hebron.

November 9-26, 1996: CPT delegation led by Robert Epp works with the human rights commission of the diocese of Chiapas. The team divides in three groups sent out to live in remote villages in areas currently targeted by the Mexican military. As a follow up, CPT studies possibilities for additional engagement in the crisis in Chiapas and Southern Mexico.

December 10, 1996: CPT Hebron supports students' actions to re-open Hebron University. The closure in retaliation for suicide bombings in February/March 1996 was extended September 8. CPT has supported University staff and students with visits to homes and property threatened with takeover by Israeli settlers or by policies of the occupation. CPT accompanies student demonstrations and conducts classes in nonviolence.

December, 1996: "Dead, Buried and Living in Hebron" video and study guide features interviews and footage from CPT's Hebron team. CPT distributes fifty in the first month of release.

December 27-30, 1996: Peacemaker Congress III in Washington, D.C. joins Friends, Brethren, Mennonites and other peacemakers for worship, sharing and storytelling under the theme, "Joining the Nonviolent Struggle: Getting in the Way." Main speakers include Rev. Lucius Walker Jr. of Pastors for Peace and Art Gish and Kathy Kern from CPT Hebron. The Congress culminates in a public witness at the Pentagon.

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1997

December 31 - January 21, 1997: Fourth CPT training in Chicago prepares three full time Corps members and thirteen Reservists for presence, public witness and conflict transformation.

February 26 - June 26, 1997: Two-person team to Haiti monitors land reform efforts in the central valley and reports on assembly factory workers' struggle for a living wage and humane treatment.

March 1, 1997: CPT's team in Hebron launches 700 hour "Fast for Rebuilding" -- one hour for each Palestinian home threatened with demolition by Israeli authorities. Hundreds of CPT supporters across North America fast, pray, and witness in support.

March 28, 1997: Members of CPT Hebron join 40 Palestinians, Israelis and other internationals in rebuilding a Palestinian home demolished the year before. CPTer Cliff Kindy is arrested along with a Jewish Rabbi and two Palestinians. Kindy is held four days until his flight leaves for the U.S.

April 2-14, 1997: Four member delegation to Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mexico is ejected from Mexico for "violating the terms of their tourist visas" after documenting human rights abuses and inquiring about prison conditions in Oaxaca state.

April 2-15, 1997: Four-member delegation to Haiti joins the long term team to observe elections in Jeremie and meets with church leaders in Port-au-Prince regarding tension around the "neoliberal" economic policies pushed by international banks and advisors.

May, 1997: New Project in Urban Peacemaking (PUP) begins in Richmond, VA, coordinated by Peacemaker Corps member Wes Hare.

June 10-22, 1997: First CPT Rebuilders Against Bulldozers (CPT-RAB) delegation travels to Israel/Palestine to meet with Palestinian families facing threat of house demolition and spend time with CPT team in Hebron.

June 14, 1997: CPT members and supporters in Northern Indiana join members of the Hispanic community in public vigils outside the Elkhart County courthouse in Goshen, Indiana in response to Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) raids on 7 local factories.

July 20-29, 1997: CPT joins Brethren Disaster Response to help local rebuilders of the Bethel Chapel AME church in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Numerous roadblocks to reconstruction raised fears of possible violence during the rebuilding of the church, which was burned down by suspected racist hate groups March 31.

July 29 - August 2, 1997: CPT members hold daily vigils at the Mennonite Church conference in Orlando, Florida to support workers struggling for fair wages in Haitian assembly factories. Workers are paid as little as 28 cents an hour in 14 assembly factories that produce Disney clothing. An estimated 200 people from the conference join the vigil during the five days.

August 9-20, 1997: Eleven-member delegation to Chiapas, Mexico led by Kryss Chupp meets with refugees from paramilitary terror groups given free reign by the Mexican army. The delegation holds a public vigil outside the National Palace in Mexico City's central square.

September 26-28, October 24-26, November 21-23 & December 11-13, 1997: Nine CPT Reservists meet over four weekends in CPT's first regional training, graduating in December.

October 7-19, 1997: A seven-member Rebuilders Against Bulldozers (CPT-RAB) delegation led by Reservist Cole Hull travels to Israel/Palestine and observes a house demolition while in Hebron.

October 18, 1997: Steering Committee affirms the establishing of a CPT Ontario office with Doug Pritchard as part-time staff person. GameNet discussion forum closed in anticipation of CPT taking on a different role in the campaign against violent war toys.

November 28 - December 9, 1997: Six delegation members visit Chiapas, Mexico, led by Reservist Val Liveoak and CPTer Wendy Lehman. The delegation meets with villagers and religious leaders, listening to stories of increased paramilitary activity and the resulting thousands of internal refugees. They hold a vigil in the town square of San Cristobal de las Casas to draw attention to human rights abuses.

November 29, 1997: A group in Ontario led by staff member Doug Pritchard meets with representatives of First Nations peoples and non-Native residents to learn more about the conflict in Ipperwash Provincial Park regarding fishing rights and unfair treatment of First Nations peoples.

December 6, 7 and 14, 1997: 1997 "No War Toys" vigils at Toys R Us stores in Wichita, KS, Lakewood (outside Denver), CO, and Lima, OH. KS and CO vigils are part of CPT Reservist training.

December 9, 1997: Campaign for Secure Dwellings launched. The initiative matches North American congregations and groups with Palestinian families, calling on churches to "use their imaginations and faith to confront the violence of home demolitions on local, national and international levels."

December 10-22, 1997: Eight people visit Israel/Palestine on the third Rebuilders Against Bulldozers (CPT-RAB) delegation led by Reservist Bruce Yoder.

December 12-21, 1997: CPT Reservists Nancy Frey, Pierre Gingerich and Joshua Yoder visit Haiti to investigate continuing reports about Haitian workers not paid a fair wage by Disney and other companies.

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1998

December 28, 1997 - January 21, 1998: Thirteen people participate in the 5th CPT training in Chicago. Membership in the full-time Peacemaker Corps reaches 12, the goal for the Corps set in 1993.

January 18, 1998: CPT Chicago office receives a series of death threats related to its work in Hebron. The telephone and e-mail messages claim to originate from the Jewish organization Kach, classified by both U.S. and Israeli governments as a terrorist organization.

February 8-21, 1998: Five member Rebuilders Against Bulldozers (CPT-RAB) delegation to the Middle East led by Kathleen Kern participates in Sabeel Liberation Theology Center conference and helps a Bedouin family near Hebron rebuild on their land.

February 21 - March 4, 1998: Ten person delegation to Chiapas led by Duane Ediger and Suzanne O'Hatnick meets with members of Las Abejas (The Bees), a group of indigenous Christians. Las Abejas have embraced nonviolence despite having been driven from their homes by local paramilitary forces, who murdered 45 Bees on December 22, 1997.

March 3, 1998: CPTers begin round-the-clock vigil when the home of Palestinians Yussef and Zuhoor Al-Atrash is demolished by Israeli soldiers. This is the first family involved in CPT's Campaign for Secure Dwellings to have their home bulldozed.

March 26-28, 1998: CPT Steering Committee, meeting in Winnipeg, MB, decides to increase the full-time Peacemaker Corps from 12 to 18 members by the year 2000 with emphasis on recruiting minority participants and peacemakers from Canada.

April 5, 1998: CPT Chicago office receives telephone message containing death threats. Caller claims to be from the Israeli Consulate in Chicago.

April 18, 1998: CPT Project in Urban Peacemaking in Richmond sponsors community carnival with games, food, live music and booths representing local peace groups, food banks and civic organizations. About 200 people from the neighborhood and nearby Churches attend.

April 24-26, May 8-17, 1998: Second regional training in Kitchener, Ontario adds 14 new peacemakers to CPT Reserve Corps. The training encompasses one weekend in April and a week in May, culminating in a May 14 public witness about home demolitions outside the Israeli Consulate in Toronto.

April 29 - May 3, 1998: Seven CPTers attend the Christian Zionist conference "Israel's Jubilee: 50 Years in the Land" to draw attention to the suffering of Palestinians caused by Israel's expansionist policies, which Christian Zionists support.

May 24 - June 4, 1998: Seven-member delegation to Chiapas, Mexico led by CPCers Cliff Kindy and Wendy Lehman.

May 27 - June 8, 1998: Reservist Julie Hart leads a six- member Rebuilders Against Bulldozers (CPT-RAB) delegation to the Middle East. Delegation members help harvest wheat on a Palestinian family's land.

May 31, 1998: An estimated 200 congregations and meetings observe CPT Sunday on Pentecost to celebrate 10 years of CPT staff work.

June 4, 1998: Long term CPT presence in Chiapas, Mexico begun by CPCers Kathy Kern, Cliff Kindy and Wendy Lehman and Reservists Pierre Gingerich and Esther Ho.

June 11, 1998: In response to the Israeli military's destruction of the Al-Atrash family residence near Hebron for the second time in 3 months, CPT launches "Roses, not Rubble," a call for action and prayer.

June 25, 1998: CPT team accompanies members of The Bees in a 2-and-a-half hour march through a highly militarized area after their plan to return to their homes is thwarted by threats from paramilitaries against the local bishops

.July 1-4, 1998: A CPT team holds daily vigils asking the Walt Disney Company to pay a fair wage to garment workers in Haiti at the Church of the Brethren conference in Orlando, FL. The vigils climax in a 33-person "human billboard" along the highway leading to Disney World on July 4.

July 3-17, 1998: CPT Hebron joins with the Israeli Coalition Against Home Demolitions and the Palestinian Land Defense Committee in a tent campaign to dramatize the issue of home demolitions in seven different West Bank communities.

August 1-13, 1998: CPT-RAB delegation to the Middle East led by Tony Asta supports CPT Hebron's current emphasis on home demolitions and the Campaign for Secure Dwellings.

August 7, 1998: CPT Hebron member James Satterwhite is detained for four hours by Israeli authorities after helping a Palestinian family save "illegal" irrigation lines from confiscation by Israeli soldiers. The arrest raises again the issue of unequal water use in the West Bank.

August 19, 1998: CPTers help Atta and Rodeina Jabber rebuild after Israeli bulldozers level their home in the Beqa'a Valley east of Hebron. The Jabbers were the first family to be partnered with a North American church in CPT's Campaign for Secure Dwellings to stop home demolitions.

September 16, 1998: Atta and Rodeina Jabber's home is bulldozed a second time. CPT issues a call to action, "Reduced to Rubble: Whom Shall I Send?" on behalf of the Jabber family.

September 24-27, 1998: 300 people attend Christian Peacemaker Congress IV at Joyfield Farm in North Manchester, IN. Keynote speaker Ched Myers and CPT Hebron member Sara Reschly lead participants on a journey "From Empire Economics to Jubilee Justice." A public "rubble dump" carries a message of concern about the demolition of Palestinian homes to Indiana Senator Richard Lugar's Ft. Wayne office.

October 3, 1998: As tensions increase following a grenade attack and subsequent curfew, Hebron team members hold a candlelight vigil for peace at clash points throughout the Israeli-controlled part of the city.

October 27-November 9, 1998: Five members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) visit the West Bank and Hebron on a delegation supporting Rebuilders Against Bulldozers. Delegation members help the Yussef Al-Atrash family rebuild terrace walls on their land south of Hebron.

October 29-31, 1998: CPT Steering Committee meeting in Chicago agrees to extend the Richmond Project in Urban Peacemaking for one more year and affirmed a continuing presence in Chiapas, Mexico and Hebron, West Bank.

November 19-December 1, 1998: A ten member CPT delegation led by Joel Klassen travels to Chiapas. On November 22, the delegation joins members of Las Abejas in prayers to commemorate the 11 month anniversary of the massacre of 45 of their members by paramilitary forces, December 22, 1997. Other members of the delegation are Robert Hanson (Kitchener, ON), Grant Martens (Fiske, SK), Frank Moore (Houston, TX), Marcus Page (San Fransisco, CA), Patrick Preheim (Minneapolis, MN), Drane Reynolds (Miami, FL), Kurt Richie (Constantine, MI), Dick and Gretchen Williams (Boulder, CO).

November 22, 1998: Three Corps members, eight Reservists, and over 30 friends of CPT join 7,000 people at Fort Benning, GA, to call for the closing of the School of the Americas (SOA), whose graduates are responsible for some of Latin America's worst human rights atrocities. Graduates include members of the present-day Mexican military in Chiapas, as well as Haitian General and junta leader Raoul Cedras. Thirty CPT-related people cross the line into the fort risking arrest in a funeral procession numbering more than 2,300 people.

December 9, 1998: CPT's Campaign for Secure Dwellings marks its first anniversary with 58 North American churches committed to work on behalf of 50 Palestinian families whose homes are targeted for demolition by Israeli authorities. More than 1000 homes throughout the West Bank are threatened.

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1999

December 28, 1998-January 20, 1999: Fourteen people complete CPT's 6^th Peacemaker Training and join the Reserve Corps, bringing membership in this body up to 62. Participants are Jane Adas (Highland Park, NJ), Gary Brooks (Lexington, KY), Rusty Dinkins-Curling (Arcanum, OH) Michael Goode (Chicago, IL), Matt Guynn (Richmond, IN), Shady Hakim (Arcadia, CA), Lisa Martens (Brandon, MB), Carl Meyer (Millersburg, IN), Frank Moore (Houston, TX), William Payne (Toronto, ON), Paul Pierce (N. Manchester, IN), Rick Polhamus (Fletcher, OH), Mary Alice Shemo (Pittsburgh, PA) Doug Wingeier (Wanesville, NC).

January 10, 1999: Members of CPT's Hebron team stand in front of Israeli soldiers preparing to fire on Palestinians engaged in a nonviolent demonstration. CPTers Sara Reschly and Pierre Shantz are arrested for "interfering with a soldier's duty." Other CPTers on the scene include Mark Frey, Joanne Kaufman and Sydney Stigge-Kaufman. (See report "Getting in the Way of Guns.")

January 30, 1999: The CPT-Richmond project sponsors a candlelight service of healing following the shooting of a young mother in the Highland Park neighborhood. Seventeen family members, neighbors and clergy join in prayer and sharing to reclaim the area as "holy ground."

February 13-27, 1999: Members of CPT Ontario provide a two-week presence with the Caldwell First Nation following vandalism on their property. In December 1998, the Canadian government offered the Caldwells $23 million to settle a land claim, allowing them to buy 4,000 acres on the open market. Local non-native residents responded by plastering their properties with "not for sale" signs.

March 26-27, 1999: CPTers in Canada organize a Consultation to discuss a proposal for Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada held at the Conference of Mennonites in Canada offices in Winnipeg, MB. Consensus regarding next steps for CPT's development in Canada included establishing a "Canada office" accountable to CPT with responsibility for organizing regional CPT groups, recruitment, constituency development, and lobbying Canadian governments.

April 1, 1999: CPT begins a presence at the "First Fire of the Oceti Sakowin" (Seven Council Fires) encampment. Seven Lakota men established the nonviolent encampment March 22 on La Framboise island, across from South Dakota's state capital, to protest the U.S. Congress turning treaty land over to the state of South Dakota.

April 2, 1999: 4 CPTers and 80 other Christians hold a final vigil at the "Sword and the Cross" war memorial at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Toronto, ON. The vigils, held over a period of 6 months, called for church leaders to take down the sword from the cross as a symbol of the church's renunciation of war. Police arrested three participants after they crossed onto church property to remove the sword.

April 4, 1999: Four members of CPT Chiapas join more than 50 members of Las Abejas to plant corn on the grounds of a military base in the Chiapan highlands. The Easter morning witness caps a series of Holy Week prayer vigils at the base intended to challenge the militarization of Chiapas.

April 8-10, 1999: CPT's Steering Committee, meeting at the University Park Church of the Brethren in Hyattsville, MD issues a "Letter to Our Churches About Anti-Semitism" challenging denominations to strengthen educational efforts aimed at understanding how our theological assumptions have been shaped by an anti-Semitic ideology.

April, 1999: Doug Pritchard becomes the first Coordinator for a CPT Canada office.

May 13-26, 1999: CPTers Doug Pritchard, Wes Hare and Cole Hull make a fact-finding trip to the Grassy Narrows First Nation community in northwestern Ontario. The team interviews First Nation leaders and Ontario government officials regarding plans to clear-cut forest areas claimed by the Grassy Narrows people.

May 17, 1999: Israeli Defense Forces detain CPT Hebron member Jamey Bouwmeester and Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions director Jeff Halper after they impede the destruction of two water reservoirs in the Beqa'a valley east of Hebron.

May 21-June 3, 1999: A four member CPT delegation to Chiapas led by Duane Ediger visits members of Las Abejas at the X'oyep refugee community, in the midst of renewed threats by paramilitary groups. The delegation and CPT Chiapas members join Las Abejas in a four-hour prayer pilgrimage culminating on the grounds of a military base. Other members of the delegation are Keith Hess (San Salvador, El Salvador), Karen Martin (Goshen, IN), and Diane Mayer (Boulder, CO).

May 26-June 7, 1999: A four member CPT RAB delegation to Hebron led by Julie Hart. The delegation joins members of the Hebron team and local press in a vigil across from a new gas station built on confiscated land, and plants an olive tree on land designated for a settlement expansion. Other members of the delegation are Benno Barg (Kitchener, ON), Quinn Brisben (Chicago, IL), and Doug Horst (Cambridge, ON).

July 23-27, 1999: CPTers hold daily prayer processions and vigils under the St. Louis Arch in conjunction with the Mennonite Church Assembly to highlight the plight of the dispossessed in the various sites where CPT works (Hebron, Chiapas, South Dakota, Richmond).

August 1-13, 1999: A four member delegation to Chiapas led by Paul Neufeld Weaver (Worthington, MN). Delegates and CPT Chiapas team members hold a public "celebration of hope" in the streets of Chiapas' capital, San Christobal de Las Casas, to pray for an end to the low-intensity warfare. Other delegation members are Nelda Nelson-Eaton (Tijuana, Mexico/Chicago, IL), Drane Reynolds (Homestead, FL), and Chris Schweitzer (Philadelphia, PA).

August 1-14, 1999: A six member CPT RAB delegation led by Jamie Bouwmeester patrols the streets of Hebron during a curfew and helps two Palestinian brothers in Walaje rebuild their homes, demolished by the Israeli military. Members of the delegation are: Fred Bush (Huntingdon Beach, CA), Anita Fast (Vancouver, BC), Dave Goering (Hillsboro, KS), Angela James (Sioux Lookout, ON), Jamie Terrel (Washington, DC) and Gretchen Young (Oakdale, PA).

September 17, 1999: CPT Chiapas members and 75 members of Las Abejas plant new corn seeds on a military base after stalks planted at Easter were destroyed.

October 15, 1999: CPT completes its initial presence with Lakota people at the Seven Council Fires encampment in South Dakota, following a decision by the campers to focus on other treaty issues. Participants in the 5½ month presence included: Jane Adas (Highland Park, NJ), Tony Asta (Chicago, IL), Bob Carlsten (Denver, CO), Robert Epp (Henderson, NE), John Finlay (Walkerton, ON), Ron Forthofer (Longmont, CO), Ron Friesen (Loveland, CO), Linda Hardesty (Boulder, CO), Cole Hull (Seattle, WA), Kathy Kern (Webster, NY), Cliff Kindy (N. Manchester, IN), Brian Ladd (Boulder, CO), Lisa Martens (Brandon, MB), Carl Meyer (Goshen, IN), Marilyn Miller (Boulder, CO), Lois Nafziger (Goshen, IN), Bert Newton, Rick Polhamus (Fletcher, OH), Doug Pritchard (Toronto, ON), Sara Reschly (Mt. Pleasant, OH), Kurt Ritchie, Janet Shoemaker (Goshen, IN), Randy Steel, Lynn Stoltzfus (Harrisonburg, VA), Gene Stoltzfus (Chicago, IL), Worth Weller, Patricia Wells Burdette ( Ben Yoder (Harrisonburg, VA).

October 21-23, 1999: CPT's Steering Committee meeting in Chicago, IL discusses potential for CPT's growth in the first five years of the new millennium to 50 full-time workers and 100 reservists.

November 4-15, 1999: Seven-person delegation to Chiapas led by Reservist Duane Ediger (Dallas, TX) joins 100 members of Las Abejas in a four-hour prayer vigil on the military base outside the refugee village of X'oyep. Delegation members include Jacqueline DeCarlo (Washington, DC), Karis Engle (Miami, FL), Rob Hansen (Boise, ID), Scott Kerr (Downers Grove, IL), Nelson Martin (Sellersville, PA), and Leonard Nolt (Boise, ID).

November 18-30, 1999: Seven-member CPT RAB delegation to Hebron led by CPTer Kathy Kern (Webster, NY) sells tomatoes in Hebron market symbolically opening it as per previous peace accords. Delegation members also sit on irrigation pipes supplying Palestinian fields to prevent Israeli authorities from destroying them. Participants are Carleta Baker (Newberg, OR), Karen Blatt (Elgin, IL), Judith Bustany (Los Angeles, CA), Rick Carter (Newton, KS), Donna Hicks (Durham, NC), Keri Holmes (Kouts, IN).

December 26, 1999 - January 1, 2000: CPT's Jubilee Team organized by Anita Fast (Vancouver, BC) holds seven-day prayer vigil and fast at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, DC calling for debt cancellation in the spirit of Jubilee for the year 2000. Activities include morning prayers, a mid-day march seven times around the IMF, evening candle light vigils with prayers for countries burdened by international debt and various discussions with IMF officials. Team includes Jamey Bouwmeester (Elgin, IL), Barry Cardinal (Pine Ridge, SD), Kryss Chupp (Chicago, IL), Anita Fast (Vancouver, BC), Matt Guynn (Richmond, IN), Kathleen Kern (Webster, OH), JoAnne Lingle (Indianapolis, IN), Lisa Martens (Winnipeg, MB), William Payne (Toronto, ON), Rick Polhamus (Fletcher, OH), Dianne Roe (Corning, NY), Lena Siegers (Brussels, ON), Phil Stoltzfus (Newton, KS), and Joshua Yoder (Chicago, IL).

December 27-30, 1999: 150 people attend Christian Peacemaker Congress V in Washington, DC. Keynote speakers Kathy Kelly and Anne Montgomery lead participants in reflections on Christian nonviolence in a violent world. Participants join in a public witness at the IMF to hail the dawning of Jubilee in the new millennium.

December 22, 1999: CPT Ontario joins "A Cloud of Witnesses" in front of the U.S. consulate in Toronto, ON, to commemorate the Acteal massacre. After hearing evidence from government officials, soldiers, and members of the Abejas, participants proclaimed the U.S. government guilty of the massacre and called it to accountability.

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2000

January 2-26, 2000: Twelve people complete CPT's 7^th Peacemaker Training in Chicago bringing the number of Corps members to 88. Participants are: Amy Babcock-Sellers (Richmond, IN), Carleta Schroeder (Kent, WA), Grace Boyer (Hampton, VA), Judith Bustany (Los Angeles, CA), Rick Carter (Newton, KS), Anita Fast (Vancouver, BC), Dorothy Goertz (India), Bob Holmes (Toronto, ON), Tracy Hughes (Bluffton, OH), Scott Kerr (Downers Grove, IL), Erin Kindy (N. Manchester, IN), Matt Schaaf (Winnipeg, MB).

January 8-22, 2000: CPTers William Payne and Janet Shoemaker make a fact-finding trip to Esgenoôpetitj First Nation in Burnt Church, New Brunswick. They learn about the lobster-fishing dispute that erupted in violence with the non-Native community in October 1999 and introduced CPT to band leaders.

February 3, 2000: CPT releases "Tent for Lent" materials drawing from CPT's experiences in Palestine entitled "Under One Tree I Will Live."

February 4-16, 2000: A -member delegation to the Middle East joins with Israelis and Palestinian farmers to take buckets of Palestinian soil to the gates of an Israeli settlement kicking off a "Buckets of Soil Campaign against Land Confiscation." Members of the delegation incude: Judy Cloughen, David Cockburn, Rusty Dinkins-Curling, Mary Lawrence, Harald and Ilse Matthiessen, Rich Meyer, Marian Solomon, Richard Solomon, Doug Wingeier

February 18-29, 2000: A seven-member CPT delegation to Chiapas led by William Payne visits a military base with Mr. and Mrs. Corn to encourage the Mexican military to choose life and hear 15 demands of Las Abejas to the Mexican government. Other members of the delegation are: Keith Young (Kalamazoo, MI), Krista Lord (Kitchener, ON), Alexandra Kedrock (Norfolk, VA), Erin Kindy (North Manchester, IN), Paul Szabo (Quebec City, QB), George Weber (Chesley, ON).

March, 2000: "Tent for Lent" begins in Hebron with plans for one CPT team member to stay overnight with a family threatened with home demolition or land confiscation while another team member fasts for the day.

March 11-18, 2000: An eight-member CPT delegation to Vieques Island, PR visits with local people in one of thirteen resistance camps outside and inside the U.S. Navy base where military maneuvers take place. Members are: Phil Borkholder (Vicksburg, MI), Ambrosia Brown (N. Manchester, IN), Eric Christiansen (N. Manchester, IN), Angela Freeman (Kitchener, ON), Anne Herman (Binghamton, NY), David Jehnsen (Galena, OH), Cliff Kindy (N. Manchester, IN), and Kurt Richie (Constantine, MI).

March 19, 2000: "Tent for Lent" begins in Chiapas as CPT team members join with members of the Abejas to construct a tent on the civic action military camp near X'oyep. Several members of the team rotate a presence of fasting and praying in the tent until Easter.

March 20-30, 2000: A seven-member CPT delegation to South Dakota visits the Pine Ridge Reservation where they help build a human wall around the tribal headquarters to prevent BIA officials from entering and taking tribal records. The delegation also participates in celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Seven Council Fires encampment on La Framboise Island. Members include: Rick Polhamus, delegation leader (Fletcher, Ohio), Carl Meyer (Goshen, Indiana), Jacob Liechty (Dublin, Ireland), Carrie Harder (Kitchener, Ontario), John Harder (Kitchener, Ontario), Dorothy Goertz (Goessel, Kansas), and Vern Riediger (Toronto, Ontario).

April 4, 2000: CPT New Brunswick projects begins as Lena Siegers and Janet Shoemaker arrive in Esgenoôpetitj First Nation (Burnt Church).

April 6-8, 2000: CPT's Steering Committee, meeting in Chicago, IL, begins the visioning process for the future growth of CPT.

April 7-17, 2000: A six-member CPT delegation to Colombia visits three conflict areas in Northern Colombia to learn about the conflict and explore possibilities for CPT involvement. Members include: Jose Luis Azurdia (Guatemala), Kryss Chupp (Chicago, IL), Mark Frey (Newton, KS), Kathleen Kern (Webster, NY), Val Liveoak (San Antonio, TX), Paul Neufeld-Weaver (Worthington, MN).

April 22-23, 2000: "Tent for Lent" concludes in Chiapas as the CPT team and 400 Abejas transform the military base by writing "PAZ" (peace) on the helicopter pad with stones and raising peace flags and banners near the buildings. They return Easter morning for a communion service.

May 1-10, 2000: A nine-member CPT emergency delegation to Vieques Island, PR responds to church leaders for international presence as Pentagon sources threaten a U.S. Marshall and FBI raid on the peace camps. Eight delegates are removed from the premises, briefly detained and released without charge. Members are: John Buschert (Goshen, IN), Mark Byler (Goshen, IN), Peter DeMott (Ithaca, NY), Duane Ediger (Dallas, TX), Sue Frankel-Streit (Goochland, VA), Mary Anne Grady Flores (Ithaca, NY) , Teresa Grady (Ithaca, NY), Cliff Kindy (N. Manchester, IN), and Joanne Lingle, (Indianapolis, IN).

May 6, 2000: CPTers William Payne and Robert Holmes are arrested in Neguac, New Brunswick while attempting to reclaim a Mi'kmaq fisherman's traps from a government boat. They are later charged with obstruction.

May 10-16, 2000: Four members of a six-member CPT delegation to Vieques Island, PR are arrested along with 51 others and charged with trespassing on federal property as they enter the bombing range. Those arrested are: Andy Baker (Wheaton, IL), Ambrosia Brown (N. Manchester, IN), Mary Ann Grady Flores (Ithaca, NY), and Cliff Kindy (N. Manchester, IN). Other delegation members include JoAnne Lingle (Indianapolis, IN) and Dianne Roe (Corning, NY)

May 18-30, 2000: An eight-member CPT delegation to Chiapas followed a 14-hour pilgrimage that included visits and presentation of gifts to the families of three victims killed in an ambush on the road. Members are: Art Arbour, Nathan Bender, and Diego Mendez (all of Toronto, ON), Matthew Bailey-Dick (Waterloo, ON), Ellis Brown (Kitchener, ON), Claire Evans (Chicago, IL), Isobel McGregor (Nepean, ON), Dorothy McDougal (Fredericton, NB).

May 19-22, 2000: A four-member CPT delegation to Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwestern Ontario meets community leaders to hear their struggle with logging companies and sees areas that have been clear-cut. Members are: Lisa Martens, Matt Schaaf, Robin Neustaeter, and Anna Snyder (all of Winnipeg, MB).

May 26-June 8, 2000: A nine-member CPT delegation led by Julie Hart to the Middle East sells tomatoes in the Hasbahe wholesale market that was closed in 1994 by military order and never reopened, in spite of the Israeli government's agreement to do so. Members are: Julie Hart (Newton, KS), Susan Balzer (Hesston, KS), Grace Boyer (Hampton, VA), Hope Cobb (Princeton, NJ), Shawn Greenstreet (Washington, DC), Rebecca Johnson (Parry Sound, ON), Patricia McKenna (Manhattan, KS), Greg Rollins (Surrey, BC), and Harriet Taylor (Germantown, MD).

June 3, 2000: Members of CPT Ontario attend a protest against OAS support of free trade agreements at the OAS convention in Windsor, ON. Attendees hold a prayer service in Dieppe Gardens, a war memorial, and plant corn to symbolize life-giving qualities of traditional market systems.

June 6, 2000: CPTers Scott Kerr and Pierre Shantz accompany four Abejas on a speaking tour from Chiapas to Cuernavaca and Mexico City in an effort to build bridges to churches and nonviolent activist communities in central Mexico.

June 14, 2000: CPT releases materials for an August 6 CPT Sunday to coincide with the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.

June 23, 2000: CPT invites Mennonite Conference attendees in Goshen, IN to participate in a "Violence is not child's play" action. Members from Lee Heights Community Church in Cleveland, OH and others rated 14 toy stores in the Goshen/Elkhart area on the content and display of their toys and videos.

June 30, 2000: The CPT team in Burnt Church completes its initial presence at the end of the spring fishing season. Participants in the project were: Nina Bailey-Dick (Waterloo, ON), Benno Barg (Kitchener, ON), Chris Buhler (Kitchener, ON), Anne Herman (Binghamton, NY), Cliff Kindy (North Manchester, IN), Bob Holmes (Toronto, ON), Joel Klassen (Kitchener, ON), Gerry Lepp (Harrow, ON), Rey Lopez (Philippines), Barb Martens (Ruthven, ON), William Payne (Toronto, ON), Doug Pritchard (Toronto, ON), Heather St. James-Perry (Niagara-On-The-Lake, ON), Janet Shoemaker (Goshen, IN), Lena Siegers (Blyth, ON), Peggy Thiessen (Leamington, ON), Jane Wright (Toronto, ON).

July 15-19, 2000: CPTers organize people at Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in Kansas City to do Toy Store Survey: Cliff Kindy, Jan Long, Esther Ho, Rick Polhamos, Rusty Denkins-Curling and others

July 13-25, 2000: An eleven-member delegation to Chiapas conducts a service of prayer and repentance at a military base calling for a just resolution to the conflict and a safe return for all refugees. Members are: Fred Bahnson (Brevard, NC), Grace Braley (Yonkers, NY), Duane Ediger (Dallas, TX), Ron Friesen (Loveland, CO), Joel Douglas Harrison (Los Angeles, CA), Leonard Janzen (Virgil, ON), Murray Lumley (Ancaster, ON), Matthew Pflederer (Goshen, IN), Allan Slater (Lakeside, ON), Muriel T. Stackley (Pawnee Rock, KS), and Shirley Way (Wallingford, PA).

July 17, 2000: CPT Canada Coordinator, Doug Pritchard is issued a charge of "obstructing a fisheries officer" by Department of Fisheries and Oceans officials at his home in Toronto. The charge is in relation to an incident that occurred on the Miramichi Bay June 12, 2000 while Pritchard served with the CPT team in New Brunswick.

July 21, 2000: CPT conducts its first toystore inspection in Canada with attendees at the Mennonite Church, Canada Annual Convention in Lethbridge, Alberta.

July 21-August 3, 2000: A six-member delegation to the Middle East holds a public witness against construction of 200 houses at Harsina settlement in the Beqa'a Valley. Participants build a terrace with stones from a demolished Palestinian home and plant a plum tree in the middle of it. Members are: Don Holsinger (Edmonds, WA), Sarah Koehn (Dighton, KS), John Marks (Portland, OR), Rachel Miller (Dallas, TX), Al Neufeld (Moundridge, KS), Luke Stocking (Toronto, ON).

August 4-7, 18-27, 2000: The third regional and second Ontario CPT training in Kitchener, ON brings twelve new Reservists into the Corps. The training is held over one long weekend and another 10 days. Trainees offer prayers and messages for peace outside the Mexican Consulate during the visit of Mexico's President-Elect, Vicente Fox. Participants are: Art Arbour (Toronto, ON), Nathan Bender (Toronto, ON), Ellis Brown (Kitchener, ON), Rebecca Johnson (Parry Sound, ON), Jim Loney (Toronto, ON), Krista Lord (Waterloo, ON), Murray Lumley (Ancaster, ON), Paul Neufeld Weaver (Worthington, MN), Jane Pritchard (Toronto, ON), Vern Riediger (Toronto, ON), John Sherman (Dayton, OH), and George Weber (Chesley, ON).

August 9-13, 2000: The first CPT Corps retreat takes place at Joyfield Farm in North Manchester, IN. All but one full-time Corps worker, several Reservists, Staff and Steering Committee members focus on the growth of CPT and brainstorm about structuring a larger movement.

August 13, 2000: CPT Reservists Nina and Matthew Bailey-Dick re-open the Burnt Church project in New Brunswick to a fall fishing season already in progress. They are immediately immersed in the conflict as government officials raid the band's lobster traps the day after the team's arrival.

September 17, 2000: After testing Violence is Not Child's Plan in several locations CPT launches campaign for 500 congregations to join in actively opposing children's toys that glorify violence.

September 23, 2000: In Chiapas, CPTers Matthew Schaaf and Scott Kerr accompany several families of Abejas to their home community where they will build new homes near their land and attempt to resume some semblance of ordinary lives.

September 23-October 28, 2000: CPT Hebron begins Saturday fasts and prayers in response to the growing incidents of street violence occurring in Hebron on Shabbat.

September 29-October 9, 2000: A six-member CPT delegation to Vieques Island, PR, march and vigil at the entrance to the U.S. Navy Base with 5000 other protesters. Two members of the team enter the U.S. Naval Ammunition Storage Depot and are arrested. Members are: Cliff Kindy (N. Manchester, IN), Angela Freeman (Kitchener, ON), Moses Beachy (Goshen, IN), Christine Caton (Waterford, CT), Audrey Miller (Willington, CT), and Kathryn Railsback (Seattle, WA).

October 14-15, 25-27, Dec 10, 2000: Two CPT team members in Chiapas join 250 indigenous people from Chiapas on a 1400 km Jubilee Pilgrimage 2000 from Acteal to Mexico City to call for the demilitarization of Chiapas.

October 16 - November 1, 2000: CPTers Pierre Shantz and Janet Shoemaker conduct a "Life Under Occupation" tour to Midwestern and Eastern Mennonite and Quaker high schools in the U.S.

October 17, 2000: Three CPTers in Chiapas accompany 94 families of Abejas from X'oyep to a location near the village of Ybeljoj from which they had fled in1997. Team members maintain a near-continuous presence in the new camp in the days following.

October 19-21, 2000: CPT's Steering Committee, meeting in Toronto, ON, approves the five-year growth plan for expanding personnel and funding to support 6-10 projects.

October 30, 2000: The Burnt Church projects closes for the winter after a highly conflictive fall fishing season. Team participants were: Matthew Bailey-Dick and Nina Bailey-Dick (Waterloo, ON), Nathan Bender (Toronto, ON), Jamey Bouwmeester (Elgin, IL), Chris Buhler (Kitchener, ON), John Finlay (Walkerton, ON), Kristine Foran (Waterloo, ON), Joel Klassen (Kitchener, ON), Gina Lepp (Harrow, ON), Jim Loney (Toronto, ON), Scott Morton-Ninomiya (Waterloo, ON), William Payne (Toronto, ON), Pierre Shantz (Blainville, QC), Janet Shoemaker (Goshen, IN), Lena Siegers (Blyth, ON).

November 5-7, 2000: Fourth regional CPT training in Cleveland, OH, begins. Training sessions are held on the first weekend for the next six months. On December 2, 2000, participants gather in "The Flats," a nightclub area of Cleveland where several people have been murdered in the past year to pray for peace and for the families of the victims. Trainees include: Elluage Carson, Amy Gomez, Alyce Foster, Jesse Griffin, Carol Hanna, Lois Mack, Jackie McKenny, Robin and Cynthia Miller, Phyllis Milton, Henri and Wanda Ngolo and Jacqui Rozier (all of the Greater Cleveland area) and Barb Martens (Ruthven, ON).

November 14-27, 2000: A seven-member CPT delegation to the Middle East joined with other internationals in Ramallah in a demonstration calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Kennedy Stan Bohn (Newton, KS), Ami Angell (Portland, OR), Helene Hoover (Elkhart, IN), Catherine McLean (Strathroy, ON), David Neuneubel (Santa Barbara, CA), Ryan Penner (Winnipeg, MB) and James Roynon (Archbold, OH.)

November 17-29, 2000: A five-member CPT delegation to Chiapas, led by Matt Guynn, conducts a candle-holding procession onto a military base with two life-sized ears of corn and reads a confession of acquiescence to the violence in the highlands. Other members are: Duane Schmidt (Paoli, IN), Sherry Schmidt (Paoli, IN), Chih-Chun Yuan (Taipei, Taiwan) and Jerry Stein (Nazareth, TX).

November 19, 2000: Nearly 40 members and supporters of CPT gathered with 10,000 others in Columbus, GA at Fort Benning to close down the U.S. Army School of the Americas. Ten members of CPT and a dozen friends crossed the boundary line into the military base. CPTers Cliff Kindy and Bob Holmes were detained, processed, and released.

December 1, 2000: CPTers Anne Montgomery and Pierre Shantz open new project in the Bethlehem District town of Beit Jala, a predominantly Christian area under relentless attacks by the Israeli military. CPTers Kathy Kern and Bob Holmes also join Bethlehem District team.

December 14, 2000: CPT begins to seriously work at assembling a team to work in Colombia for a three month Lenten campaign against violence.

December 27, 2000 - January 22, 2001: Seventeen person gather for Mid-winter CPT training in Chicago.

Original Chronology prepared by Robert Hull, March 22, 1991
Updated by CPT Staff/Volunteers: December, 2000